Molly Bang‘s Picture This is her personal exploration as she works to analyze the emotional effects of art. Most illustrators go with their gut as they compose their pictures, but Molly wanted to see if there were some rules involved. An experienced illustrator, she says she began to understand art and composition better through this […]

When I was invited to visit with the 2014 Sendak Fellows at Maurice’s farm, I thought it would be, you know, a “farm,” AKA a rurally situated but otherwise urbane getaway retreat. But it was an actual farming farm with rows of vegetables and corn and a tractor and silo and chickens. Sendak’s longtime assistant […]

Our special issue about illustration is out (and handsome and helpful, we hope). That’s Grace Lin’s desk on the cover; inside, a baker’s dozen of illustrators write about their favorite mediums, from pencil to pixels to paint to thread (Salley Mavor). We have also gone into the wayback machine to bring you in digital form […]

Raise your hand if you find it challenging to determine the media used for picture book illustrations today. Even before computers, art labeled “mixed media” left readers scratching their heads over how the pictures were rendered. Increasingly challenging in today’s digital world is ascertaining whether picture book art is hand-crafted or computer-assisted. For Caldecott committee […]

1. Look at the cover. Feel the cover. Imagine the sticker. 2. Take the paper jacket off and check out the inside cover. I am sure there is a word for this part of the book, but I only have my non-librarian training to fall back on. Note whether the inside cover is is different […]